American Idol Top 6: Classic Love Songs

Hahaha, Andrea Bocelli and David Foster on American Idol! In a season that has also brought us Barry Manilow, Queen and Rod Stewart as a standards singer. I don't know what to say. This show has become even more like a circus than ever.

David Foster: He was not really making an effort to be diplomatic. I cannot decide if I find this offensive or just hilariously funny.

Andrea Bocelli: He's not much of an opera singer (the bits of Nessun Dorma he sang were NOT good), but when he sticks to his genre of semi-operatic pop, he's a star. And he did come across as very sweet.

Katherine: She tackled "I Have Nothing". She hit a few rough, screechy spots and she's no Whitney. But I enjoyed it, even while I sort of agreed with the judges. I don't think they were that harsh (as being reported in some corners of the Internet) - they did not say she sang badly, just that the song exposed her as not being at the level of Whitney Houston. That's fair enough and absolutely true, although I do think she should have been given some credit for pulling off the song and putting some of her own personality in it.

Elliot: The beautiful voice was in full force tonight and he sang 'A Song for You' as well as he has sung anything during this competition. The arrangement was a bit busy for my liking, but it allowed him to show his chops and technical abilities. This was a great vocal performance, but even so, Paula's blubbering reaction was over-the-top. My instinct was to stand and clap, not to have a nervous breakdown.

Kellie: Oh dear, she's singing "Unchained Melody"? Oh dear, this will not be good. And it was just abysmal. She simply does not have the technical ability nor the vocal quality to sell this song. There is no point to note pitch problems or issues with her non-existent technique. This was just a complete mess, possibly even worse than the worst of Jasmine Trias and Carmen Rassmussen. Not only did she sound horrible, she looked like a lifeless blow-up doll. Without the make-up, band and lighting, this would have qualified as a "bad audition". The judges finally turned against her this week, and Ryan had to cut Simon off just as he was about to drive the Pickler to breaking down in tears. Darn!

Paris: "The Way We Were" is a strange choice for a 17-year old. Melodically, it does suit Paris's voice and range. This was another strong vocal performance, although she had some strange modulations and spots where her tone became somewhat strident. She lacks the life experience to bring out the world-weary wistfulness of the Streisand original, but that will come with time. Her voice and musical instinct always makes listening to her a worthwhile experience.

Taylor: Boy, this was boring. He sang "Just Once" as if he was warming up his voice in the morning. He even had pitch problems at the start, which is a first for Taylor. He just seemed so uninterested and disengaged. I wonder if he was unwell.

Chris: He sang that Don Juan De Marco song, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?". And he had TWO flamenco guitarists on stage with him. Can this show be any more obvious in the championing of this chosen one? He sounded good and the performance worked, but I was put off by the aggressive favouritism. Not fair to Chris, but being on this show is like striking a bargain with the devil.

Randy: The dawg made a bit more sense this week than he usually does. I loved it that he pulled no punches in declaring his hatred for David Foster's arrangements. Professional jealousy or rivalry, perhaps? Or perhaps just a matter of taste.

Paula: Wow, she must either have been medicated to the gills or suffering withdrawal symptoms. The crying and incoherence after Elliot sang was downright uncomfortable to watch. And I really hate the way she talks over Simon when he is still in the middle of making his point. For the supposed "nice one", she is incredibly rude.

Simon: I strongly dislike him, but I really liked the way he was snickering at Paula's breakdown. In that moment, he was reflecting my thoughts exactly. And I also rather enjoyed his tearing down of the Pickler - he called it "the unending melody", boring, robotic and monotonous. If Ryan had not cut him short, he could perhaps have moved on to even more vicious adjectives. We'll never know and are the poorer for it.

ETA:

Finally, Pickler leaves! At least two weeks too late, but I will take it.

The judges apologised to Katherine? Huh? It was not as if they were that harsh to begin with! They certainly should have given her some props for doing a decent job, but it was NOT wrong to say that the song was too big for her, or that she does not come close to Whitney Houston at her prime. Katherine is technically adept and a good singer, but she is not a great singer, which is what Whitney was.

American Idol: Standards Night

This week, AI's theme was "The Great American Songbook", according to the product-placement types who are living in Rod Stewart's pocket. According to me, the theme was "Standards", because I don't live in Rod Stewart's pocket and it's just so much less of a mouthful! In previous incarnations, this was "Big Band" night but AI was too cheap to splash on an actual big band this year.

Standards, next to show tunes, is my favourite genre of post 20th century music (not counting Richard Strauss and Puccini as I think opera is a 18th/19th century genre). I always look forward to these themes on AI, even if the singing disappoints like it did in last year's Musicals Night. Great music, even if badly sung, is still great music. The wonderful thing about standards is that they can legitimately be interpreted a thousand ways. It is a genre that rewards those with musicality and exposes the sub-talented.

How did this year's bunch of hopefuls fare? Before getting to the singing, comments on a couple of the guest stars:

Alistair Stewart is the most adorable baby ever in 5 seasons of AI. No disrespect meant to Nikki McKibbin's and Fantasia's kids. Stewart Jr is just seriously cute, all sparkling eyes and dimpled smiles.

Rod Stewart is not much of a standards singer (voice too wispy for the traditional style he chooses for these songs) but seems a super chap. His lively personality was a welcome change after Kenny Rogers' cranky grandpa act two weeks ago. There is also the cheeky Cockneyish accent and a genuine sense of humour.

The main order of business began with ....

Chris singing It's a Wonderful World.
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Thick-crusted quiche

He said it himself, that this would be a departure for him from his usually shouty, screamy alt-rock stylings (well, he said "belting" but there was some hesitation while he hunted for the right word, after presumably discarding "screaming" and "shouting" as prone to misinterpretation). Over the weeks, I kept trying to understand the judges' adulation of Chris, only to come up short because I could never actually hear his voice through all the smoke, lights and sheer loudness. On country night, he sang a ballad but his vibrato completely hid his voice. Singing this Louis Armstrong classic, I was pleasantly surprised by the very appealing baritone he revealed. So, this is what Chris sounds like when he is singing more quietly and exerts himself to control his projection. I liked it a lot. He had a few wobbly low notes when his vibrato paid a brief unwelcome visit, but his mid-range was strong and very pleasing. The performance was solid if not particularly exciting. It actually worked better if I just listened and did not look at the screen. The outfit was all wrong, for one thing. He dressed like he was about to challenge the Jets to a rumble, and he acted like it too. He was just so damned serious and somber, all the while singing a song proclaiming "It's a Wonderful World". Is it a "rocker pride" thing that you have to be angry all the time?


Paris singing These Foolish Things
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Fine Dark Chocolate

The girl's personality perplexes me; I cannot decide if she is smug or just self-assured, a fame-whore or just uninhibited, shiftless or just versatile. She does seem the type that inexplicably bugs some people while others find her fun. I have described her as "tediously precocious" so maybe my inability to warm to her has more to do with her age than anything else. Whatever uncertainties I have about her personality, this performance leaves me completely certain about her singing: the girl is phenomenally talented, I think the most talented of this year's lot. This was vocally gorgeous, full of beautifully modulated notes and great phrasing. Her voice, with its tonal variety, is just a perfect fit for this music and her interpretation was superb. At several points, I thought "shades of Ella Fitzgerald" and I can have no higher praise than that. The outfit was a bit of a head-scratcher, though. I had no problems with her wearing a suit, which did have the 1930's office-girl look and was therefore at least era-appropriate. The tangerine/orange colour was another thing. Thankfully, she sang so well, I was not distracted. She will not win AI but if she chooses to continue to sing, she could have a hell of a career.

Taylor singing You Send Me
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Microwaved Buttered Popcorn

For such a colourful character, Taylor bores me. Even his spaz attack while singing Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" could not stir me from my indifference towards either hate or delight. I think I just got tired of him at some point, and I can't even be bothered to figure out if he is full of shtick or completely genuine. He bores me as a performer but I do think he is a good singer. His voice has a distinctive flavour which would record quite well. I would not turn off the radio if he is singing a song I like but I probably would not buy his album. This was another perfectly fine vocal performance, with an authentic swing sensibility. I did not much care for the arrangement which was so lacking in pizazz and energy before the trademark Taylor-style riffing kicked in and livened things up considerably. Musically, it was a strange choice to structure the song like that. If anything, the discordance was too jarring for the performance to hang together as a complete package. That said, I probably enjoyed this the most of any of his performances. Even the "Return of the Killer Spaz" during the riffing seemed unaffected and entirely fitting. He showed a real understanding of the genre and I admire that. I even liked the lounge lizard outfit, although it added another 5 years to him 42 years (he's 29? HA!).

Elliot singing It Had to be You
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Gourmet Creme brulee

Even though I hate sounding like Simon Cowell, I have to admit I prefer Elliot with my eyes closed. Not that he's ugly or anything, but he has a tendency to squint his perfectly nice eyes and smile in a most unsettling manner. I know it's nerves more than anything else, but it distracts me from his wonderful voice, my favourite among this year's finalists. Simon said he lacks personality and many seem to find him boring. I think his problem is that he lacks stage presence which again is probably a function of nerves, but aurally, he almost always delivers. The videos might not inspire rewatching, but the mp3s are keepers. Tonight, his voice was in tip-top form, rich, resonant and full of character. This song does not build very much and if executed without style, can be deadly boring. It's to his immense credit that my interest never flagged at any point and it anything, his distinctive phrasing really caught the ear. It was a noticeably 'Elliot' version of the song, with a nice touch of old-school soul but nevertheless remaining true to the spirit of the classic tune. It was like being wrapped up in a comfortable blanket while sipping hot chocolate on a rainy night.

Kellie singing Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Rancid milk

I don't usually hate any of the AI contestants (although Jasmine Trias and Jon Parker Lewis from S3 pushed quite a few buttons and Constantine in S4 bugged me initially before I discovered my apathy). I can honestly say that I hate the Pickler. I don't even care if her dumb-blonde shtick is an act; either way, it's annoying as hell. If it is for real; well, I am just opposed to such moronic levels of stupidity on principle and even more opposed to the lack of self-awareness. If it is an act, it ceased being funny 5 weeks ago and she really needs to dial it back. And I haven't even gotten to the singing yet - was it not obvious from the 1st semi-final that the girl cannot sing? She has some pretty notes and the potential to be decent, but she needs HEAPS of training before she gets there. This particular performance was just wretched. It started out acceptably enough, with a few of her bell-like chest notes getting an airing. Halfway through, she went off-key, was ahead of the music and was twanging so badly, she was practically yodelling. It was easily the worst performance by anyone in this season's finals (even worse than some of Ace's more laughable efforts). As for the whole pouting, 'Ah'mm sawree' act at the end, the less said the better. This is such a pretty song too, sigh.


Ace singing That's All
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Soggy Oatmeal

Ah, Ace Young. So desperately seeking approval, so out of his depth. I simply don't see the physical beauty that so many seem to be swooning over, so his continued presence in the finals is rather baffling to me. It certainly can't be on the strength of his singing, which is about the same as the Pickler's (that is to say, not very strong). I actually like Ace as a person; he seems very sweet, if extremely dim, and his need for affirmation is actually kind of appealing in light of the way the judges have been coming down on him. Still, he is not a singer. This was one of his better performances, but at the same time highligted his shortcomings as a vocalist. He was nasal for much of the song and his much-vaunted falsetto was thin and strained. There was also lack of dynamics and a flatness to the delivery. That said, he kept on pitch and sang with feeling and enthusiasm, and props to him for that. No props for the pony-tailed hair, though. I don't think Ace is good-looking at all, but have never thought of him as ugly (I just think he's very average looking). In that pony-tail, for a second, I really found him to be quite unattractive, a very poor man's version of Matthew Fox. The suit was nice enough, I suppose. If nothing else, he made an effort to dress for the theme.

Katherine singing Someone to Watch Over Me
One-Phrase Food Analogy: Fairy Floss

This was to be Katherine's week to shine. Her voice and musical sensibilities are widely held to be uniquely suited for sultry, jazzy songs. In her pre-song video clip, she is shown effortlessly reeling off phrases from several standards. Obviously, she knows this music. On paper (yes, Pickler, it's an actual phrase), I should be all over Katherine; she sings in a style that I usually like, has a pleasant voice, usually picks songs I like and has a vocal technique as sound as any contestant in all 5 seasons. Yet, I find her good performances easier to admire than to enjoy, and her poorer performances usually bore me to tears. This week, she had a good performance which was celebrated to the high heavens by the judges. I thought it was vocally fine but unexciting. She was going for a quiet, intimate performance of this poignant song (and I agree that is the right approach to it) and it ended up somewhat underwhelming for me. There was also an unevenness in the tonal quality, which was really obvious in this crooning style of singing. I think her voice lacks purity of tone throughout her register, with her higher notes usually sounding quite brassy and sometimes even squally. I think she would have fared better on something more sultry and torchy. Taken as a whole, though, this was a very professional and assured performance, and she did show an affinity for the genre.

It's About Bloody Time: The No-Stunts Charity Show

To the folks at Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society, huge kudos for never allowing the showbiz razzle-dazzle to obscure the point of their charity drive.

On the Mediacorp site, this is how the Thye Hua Kwan Charity Show was promoted:

Thye Hua Kwan Charity ShowSun Apr 16, 7pm

No dangerous stunts and no lucky draws; instead be entertained by a charity show that promises an evening of good variety entertainment fun.

Hosted by Guo Liang, Quan Yi Feng and Michelle Chia, the Thye Hua Kwan Charity Show is a three-hour ‘live’ extravaganza featuring more than 30 local and foreign artistes all coming together to raise as much funds as possible for the beneficiaries under the care of Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society.

Excuse the cynicism, but I find it ironic that Mediacorp is now using the lack of stunts as a major selling point, as if they were never part of the "alliance" that made stunts-studded charity shows de rigeur. How easily they forget. And how easily they expect us to forget! I have to give their PR department loads of credit for a very effective demonstration of the "blissful ignorance" approach to image management. N** what??

Certain parties would have found last night's show to be somewhat boring, as it was light on action and heavy on the representation of more "mature" singers (Chen Hui Hui, Jenny Tseng, Lin Xiao). For those who have gotten used to high stunts quotients on such show, this was probably a truly draggy affair, with song after song being performed by a parade of different singers and not even the expectation of some mean-spirited judges' comments to liven things up.

I think it's just a matter of expectations needing to be adjusted. The stunts were good and well, but not really viable in the long run. It was a matter of time before one's altruism (or degree of famewhoring desperation) reached its limit and would bode no more daredevil exploits. I also have to wonder who was picking up the insurance tab on the celebrities that put at least their health, if not their lifes, at risk.

I was fully behind the spirit of last night's show, if only because there were no stunts to be seen. Show business is business at any time, even during charity shows. Artistes boost their public image as much as promoting the worthy cause of choice. That said, I think it's churlish to quibble about the line-up at charity shows. After all, the performers are giving their time for the cause and we should be grateful to anyone who is invited and agrees to contribute. There were probably too many songs last night that came from an era before half the viewing audience was born. But I thought it was clever programming to have something to cater to both young and old. The kiddies got 2moro and Hue. Let the oldies enjoy their Chinese opera and pre-1980s hits.

Selected thoughts on the performers and performances:

• I am not a Fann Wong fan by any stretch of the imagination, but her sand-painting performance was a highlight. She is really quite talented artistically; dare I say it, perhaps more so than as a thespian (I think she is perfectly adequate as an actress, but over-rated compared to the likes of Huang Biren).
• Judging by his electric boogaloo version of Pachebel's Canon, Sylvester Sim should have waited a couple of years and participated in Superband instead of Singapore Idol. Of course, I remember vaguely some rumoured rift between Sly and his bandmates during SI, so perhaps Superband might not have been a viable option. I was actually looking forward to hearing Sly sing, to see if his technique has improved since SI, but he went the instrumental route. Which is telling, or revealing, or something.
• The routines by the Shaolin Martial Arts Group were fantastic, particularly the first one when a group of them just burst onto the stage in a flurry of swirling weapons and flying limbs. I was half expecting someone's hand to be chopped off in the confusion of movement.
  
• Awww, the Campus Superstar finalists were really endearing in their short appearance. They brought some youth to proceedings that had tended towards the geriatric prior to their arrival. Teresa and Zhiyang were particularly good - both in their vocals and their donation appeals.
• Jenny Tseng is SUCH a professional. Her voice is a little past its best, showing some signs of spread in her lower range, but she is the consumate professional. In the middle of her medley, I picked up the phone to donate. I had planned to donate all along, but was thinking of doing it at the end, so as not to buy into the whole "which performer pulled the most calls" nonsense. But Jenny so impressed me, I broke my own vow.
• The Bollywood number was something of a shambles but rather enjoyable in its clumsy execution. I loved the bright colours of the costumes, which really suited the ladies. Zoey Tay is looking in great shape nowadays and the vibrant colours lent her a very flattering glow. Chen Hanwei and gang looked suitably dapper in their groomsmen get-up. The entire enterprise certainly looked the part. It was just the dancing that left something to be desired. Anyone who has ever seen a Bollywood movie knows that the average Hindi actor and actress can dance up a storm. I was not expecting anyone to be Hrithik Roshan or Aishwarya Rai (the best dancers I have seen in Hindi films), butthese Mediacorp artistes came nowhere close to measuring up to even the more mediocre of the Bollywood performers.
• I wonder of Lin Xiao's brand of 1970's flamboyance ala Liberace makes people uncomfortable nowadays. He can most definitely sing, but as Simon Cowell might say, "To be honest, I found the whole thing a bit weird". I think it was the ghastly white corpse of the day make-up he was sporting.
• When the mentally disabled kids rushed up to hug Mr Lee, the THK chairman, the donation numbers just went through the roof. This was definitely a lump in the throat moment, and the high point of the whole show for me. I was tempted to donate at this point, but did not have a phone on hand. It was obviously genuine and completely unrehearsed and all the more effective for it.
• The hosts struck just the right tone - they were persuasive without being desperate, sympathetic without being pathetic and very poised and professional at all times. Rather a nice change after the emotional blackmail exerted by certain hosts of previous charity shows.
• To end on a shallow note, Qian Yifeng's outfit was so unflattering when the woman is built like a runway model. Why? Michelle Chia's was slightly better, but not by a lot. Is this unflattering high-waisted style in fashion now?
  

The smartest boobs in town: Miss Singapore Universe 2006

Last year, I was prompted to blog about the MSU pageant because of the horrific fashion on display. This year, I did not watch the whole pageant, juggling between the Superband Superjam, CSI and Chelsea playing West Ham in the EPL. From what I did see:

• Was host Adrian "The Horndog" Pang speaking from a script? The tongue out, salivating act got old before the 8 pm mark.
• The judges: Oy!! Sponsors aside (and what a can of worms it is to have sponsors also judging), could they not try to up the glam quotient a bit more than that? Denise Keller is fine. Joanne Peh is fine. But BOTH of them at the same time? A bit of overkill. We needed a youngish male celebrity to balance things out.
  
• The mothers in the evening wear section: Why?? So the judges could tell what these women would look like in 30 years? Is that part of the judging criteria now? "Sure, you're hot now, but if that's what the future holds, sorry, bzzzt!"
  
• Why the monotonous colour code of black for the evening wear parade? It's a classic, classy colour. But in such competitions, we expect to comment on at least one contestant's unfortunately garrish tastes. It's part of the fun of watching beauty pageants. Talk about letting the viewer down.
• The swimwear segment - sigh, this is one of the Trump pageant trademarks that I am least fond of - godawful choreography and background music. The choice of orange for the bikinis was at least original, but not complimentary to the fairer-skinned contestants.
  
• The top 10 Q&A session- the transitions to the recorded question segments were atrociously amateurish. Were the technical people so dazzled they could not press a button on time (and could not do it properly 10 times over)?
• The questions: good questions for the most part, and genuinely testing the contestant's poise and wit under pressure. I felt that a few of the questions were much harder than others (the one on laws that should be changed is particularly challenging) but there is luck involved even in beauty pageants.
• I didn't hear anyone mention "world peace" - but I did not catch all the interview sessions.
• The winner Carol Cheong: sizzling physique, but not particularly beautiful nor well-spoken, in my opinion. Passably okay as a winner, but not oustanding.
  
• Conspiracy theory time: the judges obviously knew from the start who their top 5 would be. The same few women kept coming up top of the rankings. I was waiting for things to fall apart when a few of the "chosen ones" faltered at the Q&A, but the judges managed to pull them through. It was all very much like figure skating - separate points for technical elements and artistry. If they fall short on one (usually the technical part, ie the demonstration of the ability to make sense), one could always compensate with points for presentation (ie the aesthetics of looking good in a swimsuit and a low-cut V-necked gown).

Do they choose the winner with the Miss Universe pageant in mind? Or are they after Joanne Peh mark 2? Someone whom they can groom into a starlet to blood the talent pool at Mediacorp? It seems to me to be more of the latter than the former, which is in the grand tradition of Hong Kong pageants. I suppose it is a legitimate enough way to go about things. After all, the odds for a Miss Universe from Singapore are slim anyway, so Mediacorp might as well realise their investment by getting some "talent" out of it. I expect to see Genecia (or is it Geraldine) Luo on Channel 8 sometime soon. 1st runner-up Jade Seah will sooner or later turn up on some infotainment program and be the thinking woman's Fiona Xie. As for the winner? After she comes back from the MU pageant, she will be hosting shows like Villa Wellness. Or maybe be the object of desire on Eye for a Gal. After all, she had already openly espoused the value of such "unscripted" reality tv programs.

What is up with the New Paper's coverage of this pageant? If anything, it was the media that hyped up the whole "brains" quotient of this year's contestants. It seems disingenuous to suddenly get all huffy about the "touted" postgraduate-degree-holding contestants being outshone by their less academicall decorated counterparts. I certainly did not think that the scholars would somehow do better in the Q&A section. If anything, I think sholastic training could be detrimental to the ability to produce soundbites (which, in essence, if what is needed to do well in this part of any beauty pageant). If asked "If you could change one law in Singapore, what would it be and why?", any scholar worth her salt would:

a) seek to clarity what exactly is meant by "change". Does it include abolishment or merely amending? Does the introduction of new legislation constitute change?

b) diagram the current legislative framework in Singapore

c) perform a gap analysis of laws versus environmental requirements

d) perform a feasibility analysis

e) request extension of deadline due to additional research needed.

See, it is not possible to condense a scholar's thoughts into 60 seconds. It's not that she does not have anything intelligent to say. Just that she needs a lot more time to say it!

As for that final question on Singaporean men and how they are perceived as second best to foreign men, I wish someone had said:

"Darling, you ever tried asking a foreign man to take you to the IT show at Suntec?"

Putting Sly to Shame: Campus Superstar Finale

The Campus Superstar Grand Finale on Sunday turned out to be possibly the best of the big local reality talent-search finales. The quality of the performances was high, in particular during the second half, the judges were entertaining, there was drama and tension aplenty and even the filler acts by eliminated contestants were enjoyable.

In contrast:

Singapore Idol: The atmosphere was electric and the formula is tried and tested. There was a great Dick Lee number, "Idol Paradise" but as a competition, this was a washout. Sylvester Sim was singing so below par, the judges were resorting to highly creative critiques to keep the tone positive. Uneven.

Project Superstar: Kelvin Tan was beset with nerves that night, making for uneven performances. There was also a lack of drama because he was going to win, even if he croaked out all his songs in broken Swahili. Predictable.

Superhost: Apart from Lee Teng, the other finalists were not having particularly stellar nights. Eventual winner, Charlyn Lin recovered some of her usual eloquence towards the end but had a relatively lacklustre night by her standards. Disappointing.

Star Idol: Oh, don't even get me started. Both the finalists, Leo and Bryan, are not much in the way of actors. The roles they were assigned to play were stereotypical, and if one was truly paranoid, designed to boost Bryan's likeability factor while downplaying Leo's. Mark Lee was a campy delight but could not salvage the wreckage of overacting going on around him. Awful.

Campus Superstar, on the other hand, made for most enjoyable viewing for all 3.5 hours of its duration. The quality of singing was not consistently high during the first part of the night, but all four finalists were trying hard and even the failed performances were oddly compelling. The two grand finalists are genuinely good singers and it was just so pleasant to listen to them. There was also something rather charming about these teenaged kids doing their thing on that stage, with that particular brand of enthusiasm that only the very young possess.

Thoughts on the finalists:

• Renfred Ng: Weeks ago, after the 2nd time I heard him sing, I dubbed him "that non-singer". I know the boy is young and it's unkind to be overly critical, but I did think he was very out of place in this finale. His fans would have done him a favour by not putting him in the position of having to sing "Kiss Goodbye". This was just painful; he manfully soldiered through the song and kept on pitch most of the time, but it was so effortful that I feared he would collapse from exhaustion. He is a good dancer, but not so good that it makes up for his vocal shortcomings.
• Geraldine See: Good old "Dean" has an interesting voice and manages to be both edgy and approachable. It's too bad that the extreme ends of her range are so unstable and her vibrato pretty much uncontrolled. There is a very appealing sincerity about her when she performs and when she is on form, she is vocally arresting. I don't know if it's a question of training or talent, but she's young enough to have time to find out.
• Teresa Tseng: This girl is in the mould of the old-school nightingales with her pure, crystalline soprano (think Teresa Teng). She has my favourite voice of the whole bunch of them. However, she does have a tendency to be too much of a choir soloist with her text-book phrasing and over-emphasis on producing pure notes. As long as she opens her mouth, she will sing prettily because she has been gifted with a pretty voice. But for all I know, she could have been singing about her grandmother's garden during her solo performances on Sunday. Girl needs to learn the Maria Callas creed of singing ugly in order to invest her performances with individuality and character. She's a good singer but as yet, a poor performer.
• Ng Chee Yang: The boy is obviously musical and for one so young, almost alarmingly assured in his technique. I am not the biggest fan of this sort of counter-tenorish male voice, but this kid knows how to make very pleasing sounds. When he gave his lower register a workout in his duet with Chew Sin Huey, I thought it sounded rather good and wished he had used it more often throughout the competition. I thought he was a deserving overall champion. While one might argue that Teresa is the better singer (maybe, maybe not) or has a better voice (I do prefer hers to his), he is definitely by far and away the better performer and interpreter of music. His performance of "Kiss Goodbye" was a real highlight, not just of this finale, but of any of the local singing competitions (like Taufik Batisah's "Me and Mrs Jones", a defining performance).

Other thoughts from the finals:

• So nice to hear Hong Junyang singing again. Watching him week in and week out as co- host of Campus Superstar, I had forgotten what a very appealing voice he has. He is perfectly eloquent and professional host, but when he sings, he really comes alive and projects star quality. His duet with Teresa was manna to the ears. His vocal tone (which is light and clean) was a perfect match to hers.
• Chew Sin Huey's voice sounded really rough, which is saying something given her usual huskiness. Disappointingly, she had a few sour notes during her duet with Chee Yang. I kept thinking that the duet would have sounded better had he sung with someone else and that is sad, because I really thought Sin Huey should have been the ladies' champion in last year's Project Superstar. At first I thought that the song had been pitched too low for her but her solo bits did sound like they were smack in the middle of her comfort zone. Besides, Chee Yang's range is so vast, he could comfortably have accommodated almost any female singer he duets with. I think perhaps Sin Huey was just having a slightly off night. Her ragged vocals were also an odd fit with Chee Yang's smoother sound.
• Kelvin Tan minus competition nerves is a much better proposition than Kelvin Tan in last year's PSS finale. I liked the simplicity of the two songs he sang, with the unfussy guitar self-accompaniment. He still has a nasal quality to his high notes that I think would be rather grating if one listened to an entire album of it. Somewhere in his middle register, there are a few truly lovely vocal tones, but he does not seem to use that voice very much.
• The judging after Teresa sang with Junyang was the comedic highlight of the night for me. The poor girl must have been mortified as judge after judge kept pointing out her seeming infatuation with Junyang during the song. I don't know if it was just an act, but she showed more animation during those 3 minutes beside Junyang than she has all season. Something in the way she laughed and smiled at the judges' comments suggested that she might have a bit of a star-struck crush on the guy. Who knows? I was just glad that she offered up such comedic fodder for the judges! She even roused Lee Sisong to crack something like a joke.
• The eliminated contestants were just great during their group songs, so infectiously fun and "hang loose" about the whole endeavour. If anything, it was the older Kenneth Lim who looked rather self-conscious and awkward.
• Lee Weisong and Lee Sisong: identical twins who manage to look exactly alike and completely different at the same time. What a contrast in personalities and presentation.